Memoirs Of A Geisha

It was a last minute thing. I was staying at a friend's house over the weekend and we celebrated his birthday on Saturday.

We had cooked chicken curry, I boiled chicken soup, he cooked some vegetables and eggs and we invited another friend over for dinner. After which we had some chocolate cake and green tea... very simple birthday party but it was very enjoyable. The Secret Recipe cake was very delicious and we had a very nice decent conversation over hot cups of green tea… ah… bliss…

After helping to wash the plates we decided to go for a movie, my friend and I. Memoirs of a Geisha sneak preview was available at GSC in Cheras Leisure Mall and my friend lived only a 10minute drive away from there so we decided to try to get tickets for the 11pm show

At the GSC counter there was only one lady whilst the other three counters were closed. However the line was still moving at a fast pace (it is to be noted that not many people go to GSC Cheras Leisure Mall) and when we finally got to the counter there were still more than 250 seats available for the movie

We got in just in time, at 10.55pm, enough time to watch the advertisements and also view a few trailers

[WARNING: Spoiler Alert! If You Do Not Wish To Know The Synopsis Please Discontinue Reading. Should Any Person Experience Disappointment Or Have The Excitement Of Watching The Movie Taken Away After Reading My Blog Entry, I Am Not To Be Held Responsible. Read At Your Own Risk.]

Note: Only People Who Have Read The Novel May Truly Understand What I Have Illustrated Below.

The starting was very different from what was illustrated in the novel. Well, at least the sea did appear grey and Tipsy House was as I had imagined it: Tipsy.

But Chiyo-chan's father didn't look as old as the frail old man illustrated in the book and they didn't even show Mr. Tanaka. In the movie Chiyo-chan and Satsu-san were "abducted" and put into a train, whilst in the novel they really made their way to Mr Tanaka's house before following Mr Bekku to the train station.

Yes, I agree that the movie is BASED on the book and need not necessarily follow exactly as narrated, but as a person who has read and enjoyed the novel you can't help but express disappointment that the movie you watched did not resemble the novel you read.

Anyway, moving on, they did a great job with the streets of Kyoto. I didn't imagine it as such but I felt that they really did put great detail in it. Furthermore you did feel transported back to pre-war Kyoto and the buildings did show some form of antiquity about them.

The rickshaw scene where Chiyo-chan and Satsu-san were separated was really good.

But then the characters of Mother, Auntie and Grandmother weren't as I imagined though they did speak in an authentic Japanese accent.

The Nitta okiya wasn’t as grand as I’d had imagined but it looked pretty Japanese. I liked the detail put into the gardens and rooms, although it would have been grand to see the “kimono collection” that the okiya owned; it was narrated in such a grandiose way in the novel, one can’t help but wonder how it would have looked like

The story followed the book until around Chiyo-chan's escape from the Nitta okiya where they left out the interesting part about the gravity tank haha

The chairman was good, and so was the bridge. But I think the best display was Hatsumomo, a role played by Gong Li. I felt that she was the prettiest of all the actors. Michelle Yeoh, on the other hand, failed to pull off a Japanese appearance by her not-so-convincing accent and not-so-Japanese looks.

Mahmeha then took Chiyo-chan to be her younger sister. I like the scenes where they were training to be a Geisha as well as the scenes during the Spring Festival where the Geishas were dancing... very beautifully done.

The acting was good; they really did seem as real Geishas

Pumpkin was equally hilarious though they didn’t show her sticking out her tongue haha.

A fatal flaw that they made was to "give" Nobu-san an "arm". In the book he had only one arm but in the movie he had both, and could even stand well and shout like a very active man. Sigh.

During the bidding for Sayuri's mizuage they didn't really illustrate the bidding. The "man's eel" and "woman's cave" conversation did sent the whole cinema laughing... haha. But again, Steven Spielberg left out a few crucial scenes. Further more during her night with Dr Crab they didn't show the "sick" side of Dr. Crab. In the book he had vials containing the hymen of Geishas of whom he had successfully bid for their mizuage. What a sight it must have been if they had showed it... then again I'm not so sure what the Malaysian Board of Censors would do if they came across a movie showing a doctor using a surgical instrument to remove a woman's hymen during her first intercourse

Anyway, the Baron scene was beautiful. Loved the sakura and the interpretation of the kimono trap that he set for her.

I loved her debut. Beautiful make-up and she finally started looking like a true Geisha.

The way that Hatsumomo got kicked out of the okiya also was different. In the movie she razed Sayuri-san's room with fire. They didn't illustrate the diary of Sayuri nor the blood of Hatsumomo's leg on the tatami but the scene where Hatsumomo walked away from the okiya did leave a very sad impression I must say, perfectly the way Arthur Golden himself would have wanted it.

The war was disappointing as they left out many scenes again, but they did manage to incorporate the Americans well enough. As usual, the Americans were shown as the "saviours" of the Japanese and their foul attitudes were brought into the movie. I didn't like the fact that this was done, but it was written in history that such events did occur. The way they brought in the "western decadence" into Japan did make me hate the Americans for a few seconds at that time.

This part Steven Spielberg did a good job. You could see the secret world of the Geisha fade away only to be replaced by a mediocre American-influenced one. The grandeur of Kyoto was no more and Western decadence did make you feel that we Asians just didn't need such low levels of morality.

The final scene was good but they didn't show her moving to the States. I feel that it would have been great if they showed her restaurant in New York and finally the death of the Chairman, but then again the movie couldn't fit everything in could it.

Overall I feel the movie did better than Harry Potter but worse than Narnia in capturing the true essence of the original novel that inspired the movie. It would have been better if Steven Spielberg stuck more closely to the plot written out by Arthur Golden instead of using the Hollywood style of story telling...

It was, after all, meant to be an Asian movie.

Shopping

I went shopping today!

After I sold my baby I have been using my brother's motorbike to go to the places that I want. My brother is currently engaged with work in Vietnam and hence I get to use his motorbike while he is away. His motor is much lighter than baby and has a nicer sound to its engine, but it also has smaller rear view mirrors. It is difficult for me to see the cars behind.

My scholarship provider had given me money to purchase clothing and I have savings in my bank account. Further more I lacked many clothes and hoped to revamp my closet...

I first had lunch with a friend in Sunway Pyramid. Wow. Daves Deli. Haven't eaten that for very long now. The chicken was rather dry but my friend requested for extra sauce so that he could dip his chicken inside. The meal was really good...

He had to get back to work so I was on my own in Sunway Pyramid. I walked around and looked out for some clothes to buy but nothing really interested me. I decided to ride the bike over to Mid Valley and hopefully find something there

You know the feeling that one gets when he walks into a store, finds a perfect piece of clothing whose cut and colour is worth the money and yet cannot seem to find the right size? It happened to me multiple times.

There were so many interesting tees on sale in Zara, Topman, Guess, CK, Philosophy.. the list is endless. Some didn't have sizes, some were still too expensive even after discounts, some were just outrightly hideous

So, my luck only came when I went into Zara.

Most of the good pieces had already been sold so I was left with the old stock. It was on sale so I decided to try out some plain coloured tees. All in all I tried 9 tees and I bought two. Gosh, I fell in love with one of the tees the moment I wore it on my body. The feeling, the cut, the brand... wow... I felt so happy to be alive

There was really nothing much to buy in Mid Valley so I took the bike and decided to venture further. I went to Bukit Bintang. Surprisingly for today the traffic was quite bad. I didn't anticipate such a long line of traffic, not on a weekday and certainly not at 3pm.

I managed to find a spot to park my motorbike though.

I went into Baleno and I found many of the shirts I was looking for. The polo tees were so very cheap.. under RM40 each. Further more the cutting was quite nice and I felt that it would be a waste if I didn't buy

And boy did I buy. I bought 10 pairs of shirt. It only cost me RM230!

If you think that it is expensive, imagine this: Most other stores sell shirts well over RM30 per piece and the quality is not all that good either. Brands like FCUK and Topman can easily charge RM200 for a hideous looking tee shirt and get away with it. So, paying RM23 per piece of clothing (on average; not every item had the same price) was considered a bargain.

I was so tired so I came back and had a shower, onlining a while and then went out for dinner with a second friend.

This time we went to Peranakan House in Taman Sea and had the most fabulous dinner I've had in weeks. He ordered beef rendang, honey squid, assam fish curry and a plate of Paku (yes, it is really a plate of cooked ferns... it tasted good)

We didn't know where to go after that so we headed back to Sunway Pyramid (yeah I know, twice in a day for me). By that time the shops were either closed or closing but I managed to get into Topman.

I discovered that if I were to buy two jersey tees (a jersey tee in Topman is simply a basic coloured tee without any patterns on it) I would be entitled to 20% discount. Previously it was 20% discount on the NEXT item, but now it was 20% discount off the total price of both the tees.

Wow I went crazy and bought four pairs of beautiful tees.

I had the most enjoyable time today (and all the fresh newly bought clothes are in the house reminding me of the fun I had shopping today) Scary man!

I still have many things to buy. In descending order:

1. Tees
2. Jeans
3. Shoes
4. Stationary
5. Socks
6. Jeans
7. Watch
8. Spectacles

Yeah. These are the main items that I must purchase.

Hope I will find them all soon. Meanwhile I'm enjoying the sight of the heap of clothing on my bedroom floor before they get whisked away into the washing machine and out to face the world for the first time, on my back :)

Parting

I didn't know that the day would come so soon.

I had to sell off my motorbike.

Since I'm going to be in Australia, there will be no use for my motorbike so my father had asked his colleagues whether anyone wanted to buy it and a Malay guy had shown some interest.

My dad told me about it the night before I was to bring it to his office and show it to the guy. In the morning I gave my baby one last shower. Scrubbed off all the dirt and made the chrome shine with a cloth. Wow. Looking back on all those memories together... all the places we went together and all the bumps and cracks it sustained during our time together

I even remembered the time I had my two accidents; two cracks on the plastic fitting at the side of the motor had brought about this memory. I cleaned up the outside of the helmet box and rubbed off the mud from the exhaust pipe.

When I first got my baby it was already about 2 years old. Two previous owners had used it before me. One was a Malay guy who stayed in Kg Sg. Kayu Ara and the second one was my brother. Yep, I inherited the motorbike from him.

And by that time it had already clocked about 21,000km on its mileage. That day it stood at around 53,300km.

We have been together for the past 31,300km. Man, what a long journey.

We've visited places as far North as Gombak, as far West as Shah Alam and as far south as Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. I've taken my baby to high school and college, to important events in my life such as coming out as a PLU, even carried my ex. So many people have sat on it as a pillion rider, from my own father to some of my str8 girlfriends.

Sometimes I forget how much time we had really spent with one another. And yet after all these years (almost 5 years, to be exact) it was time to say goodbye

I can admit that some people say that having emotions towards inanimate objects is a silly thing to do. But I don't feel so especially if that object has been in your possession long enough and it has made a significant change in your life. For me, my baby has done many things that I wouldn't have done on my own.

After all those adventures we had together, baby had suffered a lot of damage. Although I had changed the spark plug the engine wasn't as sweet as I'd hoped it to be. Some of the metal parts had begun to rust and the tyres balding. Many scratches were sustained on its sides and even some on the helmet case. The white body had become a light yellow tint and the basket was slightly bent due to the impact of the second motorcycle accident that I had. The front mudguard was scratched and I don't know where it came from. The brakes were dying off and sometimes the motor would jump when I changed gears. I suspect the gears weren't working too well.

I drove my baby to my dad's office for the last time. Ironically there was a large traffic jam along the way so I got to prolong the period of "togetherness" with baby.

Finally I got the guy and he brought along a group of friends. He said that he knew nothing about motorcycles so his "friends" would help to access the motor condition for him. They revved up the motorcycle, took it for spins, played with its double stand, and checked the sides and the wheels... I felt as though they were outraging the modesty of my baby.

But what could I do. I had no choice. I handed over the keys and the Road Tax form to the guy and he gave me back RM600 for the bike. Apparently the sum had been negotiated with my dad and the money was for me to take to Australia.

That was the last time I saw baby.

I deposited the money into my account and suddenly I felt like a huge part of me had been taken away... ripped off my torso and sold off to another man. I felt empty.

I miss him already.

I hope that he will be taken care off and will enjoy the last of his days.

Branded

So yes. I like brands. I live around them. I can't live without them.

I was born to fall in love with Tag Heuer and Armani. I'd rather spend money buying Oakley glasses than settle for made-in-china frames. I can tell the difference between a real LV and a fake one. I don't mind dressing up just so that I can coolly walk into Ermenegildo Zegna stores in KLCC just to take a look at the clothing inside. I know the latest Spring line for most of the designer labels, and can tell if a particular item was last seasons.

I however, still walk through Petaling Street and still don't mind looking at fake Nike's and pirated Rolexes. Yet at the back of my head, I know I'm a brand queen.

I don't think I am being insecure. Yes, I don't have the body to put on a RM5 tank top and still look good so clothes are a form of "compensation" for my lack of built, but I know that even if I was well built I would still settle for brands.

What's in a brand anyway?

Does it matter if I prefer Armani and Calvin's over Giordano? It doesn't make me less human to do so. Yes they are sinfully expensive. Yes they come in limited sizes and for a limited time only (as they are whisked away gracefully with the change of the season). Yes they make you an oh-so-yummy target for muggers. So what.

For me, I can see a RM1000 shirt and say its an investment.

If I had a million dollars, I will spend it all on designer clothes.

And at the end of the day, the fact remains that I am a brand queen although I don't own a single piece of designer clothing simply because I can't afford it.

Don't judge me because I like expensive stuff. I still eat RM3 mixed rice at dirty hawker stalls and drive the extra 1km to get my groceries just because they are RM0.50 cheaper.

Being a brand queen doesn't make me any more or any less human for that matter. It’s just a matter of preference.

Don't hate me because I'm branded.

Laptop

I got my brand new laptop today!!!!!

Acer TravelMate 2420… grrr lousy brand… but what to do. Dad gave this to me, have to accept it anyway (would have really preferred an IBM)

But I’m satisfied with this laptop. Really. Better than not having one :)

Feeling very happy now!!!

The Day After

Today I went out for lunch with the Japanese guy. We had decided to grab some Japanese food over in Desa Sri Hartamas but when we got there all the shops were closed. Even the famous Korean BBQ restaurant was not open for lunch (only dinner… blah)…

So we ended up eating Burger King instead. My friend told me that there were no Burger King shops in Japan. Surprising if you ask me since Japanese people follow the American culture closely and Burger King is a brand from there…

He said he preferred Burger King to any other fast food chain and I couldn’t agree more.

He fetched me to Bangsar LRT and I said goodbye, thanking him for the good day yesterday and all the food he paid for… I really hope I get to meet him soon.

Today I was supposed to go to stay with a friend in Cheras. He said that his place wasn’t convenient for me to stay so he suggested renting a hotel room instead. I didn’t want him to waste his money so I told him that I’m getting another friend to take me in for the night.

Anyway, I met up with my friend in Cheras and we had Sushi King at Leisure Mall. He wasn’t feeling well and I was so worried for him…

We tried to catch a movie over at Times Square. He wanted to watch The Promise and was pointing it to me. He didn’t know the English name and neither did I, so we ended up buying the wrong tickets. He bought “A Chinese Tall Story” instead… and when we realized it was too late. He said it was a lousy show and not worth watching and since we couldn’t trade the tickets or return them to the cashier he said that it was ok… I felt very bad because he had to waste the money… seriously I felt like shit

I took him over to the shops behind Times Square instead, the row of shops where Café 69 is also located

We went to those little tea houses and had a decent cup of tea while chatting a bit. He really looked tired and I was feeling tired myself so we left early. Really liked meeting up with him and look forward to meeting him once more. Right now I'm staying over in another friend’s house in Sunway.

Actually I’m beginning to get really tired of moving around. Gosh. I finally get the feeling of being a nomad.

Hope this will end soon.

New Beginning

I met up with the Japanese guy in KLCC but before we got to meet there was already trouble.

I told him to wait for me in front of Dome which is located in the Centre Court ground floor adjacent to the park. Apparently he’s not too familiar with KLCC (as I was to find out later, he’s only been in Malaysia for the past four months…)

He thought the “Dome” I meant was the huge dome that was above the centre court, the one which gives a splendid view of the towers from Concourse level. So he was walking around that “dome” and trying to locate me, while I was waiting in front of Dome café trying my best to spot out a Japanese guy amongst the hoard of Malay people (and to think of it, there were tens of thousands of Malays there… all dressed in their punk streetwear and smelling of… ugh… you don’t wanna know)…

It was getting frustrating (mind you, I was carrying my luggage on my back, a tripod and another small bag with my toiletries and digital camera, as well as a bottle of Chivas) so I asked him to wait for me wherever he was and I go find him instead. When I found him, it was apparent how lost he was… he landed all the way in Isetan.

Anyway, we decided to grab Chinese food.

The restaurant was empty and apart from us there was only one other table. Pretty unusual if you ask me, on a New Year’s eve too… the other table had a Korean guy with an oh so yummy face… (hehe I had to add that in). We had trouble ordering food because there were many choices and we both didn’t speak much Chinese. He did understand the Chinese characters though (kanji, in Japanese) but still we couldn’t make up our mind.

We settled for an appetiser which was those seafood rolls with mayonnaise, seaweed soup, a main course of Choy Sum with mushrooms, Ostrich meat cooked with mangoes, and a Patin fish.

He had never heard of Patin. The only fish he knew on the menu was Grouper… again, can’t blame him. So I decided to order the Patin to let him try.

Whoa.. the food was damn good… and the bill also damn good… a whopping RM200

I felt bad because he paid for the meal…
We then decided to go to the park just to see the towers. He hadn’t been to KLCC at night before so I thought it would be good if we went to see it together. However the stupid management had sealed off many entrances. Apparently for the KLCC carnival they wanted to regulate human traffic so they didn’t let people cross over from the shopping complex into the park. We went around in circles and finally decided it wasn’t such a necessity. Besides, there were too many people outside anyway and I was getting nauseous.

He took me back to his place and we had Chivas Regal with Coke to celebrate the New Year. Although he stayed on a very high floor unfortunately his unit did not face the city so we couldn’t see the fireworks. All we got was some lousy footage of the fireworks over in Dataran Merdeka on TV3 and that was it. We had better time drinking ourselves crazy anyway.

It was a long long night. Stayed up and chatted, and had loads of fun. This will certainly be a New Year to remember.

Happy New Year, and may this new year bring about new opportunities, new joy, new people in your lives and new beginnings.

:)